Dogs and sailing

Cactus Sailing

Cactus Sailing

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looking for any advice on taking Dogs on board, well namely the stinky family pet, he's a cantankerous old (jack Russell x mongrel) nowadays and will happily sleep most of the day, he hates water (although can swim perfectly well) so wont jump in on his own accord, do I just get a dog life vest and see how he goes? where's best to pursued him to sit? a cockpit cushion and i'm sure he will be happy until we tack and he will want to swap over to the other side, is it worth clipping him in to the cockpit of a short leash?

also i'd like to know how dogs in general fair with seasickness, he doesn't get travel sick but you never know.

so yeah any wisdom shared appreciated.
 
None of our dogs have ever really settled on a boat, even the Border Terrier who came on from a pup. The Springer Spaniel used to sit in someone's lap as soon as the boat heeled and then stay there and the Cocker went straight to the point of entry to the boat and stayed there.
Also they won't pee once on the boat and we've tried the lot; turf, puppy pads. If we stayed at anchor it would be three in the morning when a small, hairy face with very bad breath would be thrust into mine with very loud whining. Lucky me got to get up, hoist dogs into boat and motor ashore while the rest slept on.
I'm not being very encouraging, am I. Sorry, but hey are a pain in the arse on a boat.
 
Hi Kenneth,

you may not like this but I'll add it as a precautionary tale.

We had a Westie - probably the biggest strongest Westie ever.

I was not there, but one day at the Folly, upriver from Cowes, in those days boats were berthed fore and aft between piles, no pontoons then - my Dad was trying to get Benjy from inflatable into the cockpit, dog struggled and argued as usual, and went over the side.

It's quite a fast ebb tide there; Dad instantly jumped in after him, and both were saved by the boat downstream.

They crashed out exhausted on the boat, but my dog died in the evening - he was only six and we're still not sure what the cause was - secondary drowning, heart...

So if you're going to have a dog aboard I'd say a doggie buoyancy aid is essential, mainly for the handle on top.
 
We sail with two Patterdales. They have crossed the Atlantic. They won't pee for the first 36 hours on a long passage. Vet says dont worry. When they need to go they will go.
They live in the cockpit and rarely go down below. They generally sleep on passage in a bean bag on the cockpit floor. Bean bag works well when it is rough as they dont fall out. Bean bag may slide around a little but they dont seem to worry. A bit like a bumper car for dogs.
I would just take the dog and see what happens. Dont worry about the toilet bit. If they sleep in the cockpit you dont get accidents down below and they have the deck to pee on if they need to go in the night
 
We saw lot's of dogs on yachts when long distance sailing. The two key things we saw were they had a lifejacket and continuous netting around the boat fixed to each stanchions and wire to stop the dog going overboard and a safe bed below with a lee cloth so the dog can't be thrown out. Use treats to train it to go the toilet in the cockpit.
 
We take our dog, Jack, sailing, but so far only on fairly short hauls.

1) He does suffer from seasickness, and like humans it seems to be worse if he's below decks. If in the cockpit, he's fine.
2) He refuses to "go" below decks, until it's a case of go or explode! Sadly, this has been combined with seasickness, so on two occasions we have had a right old mess to clear up. No doubt this would resolve if the period away from the shore was long enough to force him to overcome his reluctance.
3) The vet has given us tablets to cope with seasickness - haven't tried them yet, as we have changed strategies and try and keep him in the cockpit under way. Unlike human remedies, the tablets are fiendishly expensive :(, presumably because there isn't a one-size-fits-all dosage.
4) We first took him to the boat when he was a puppy, so living aboard isn't a problem; he basically likes or at least accepts living aboard.
5) Dogs are scavengers, and the sea-shore presents all sorts of attractive (to dogs!) substances. Some will stay down, others won't! It pays to be vigilant when walking them and trying to curb their instincts to eat anything that is remotely edible. Oddly, the worst effects in Jack have been from eating reeds.
6) Jack is very small (about 5 kg) and easy to carry or otherwise manhandle. I'd be worried about a larger dog, and some of the stories here have given examples of the problems with a dog whose struggles or enthusiasm have caused accidents.
7) Jack has a lifejacket, which he wears (against his will!) when out of the cabin. It has a handy handle on his back!
8) Jack doesn't like water, and avoids going in it. He did once fall in the marina when a puppy, but that reinforced his opinion. YMMV, especially with breeds like Labradors and Poodles!
 
The advice you have had equates to that all dogs are different. We have had 4 on board without problems however one a Yorkie had taken to jumping off the boat so had to be tethered, one was docile but did not enjoy it. The current two, one wlll do 1&2's on astroturf on foredeck-bliss but the other refuses unless ashore so I do lots of the late night & early morning dinghy work. I like the dogs on board but it is a constant worry, like having small children in that you have to keep an eye on them &know where they are. It certainly introduces an element of danger going ashore in a dinghy from an anchorage on a wet stormy night with a strong offshore wind. There have been a few occasions when I have thought "I should not be doing this". A dog that you can pick up easily is essential as retrieving a large wet dog from overboard would be virtually impossible unless you have a large crew. Probably much easier if you normally use marinas.
The problem is that they can be unpredictable eg a dog that had been on the boat for 2/3 months every year for 10 years suddenly started to just jump off!
Sadly we do not have these problems this year as both our dogs now are mid teens and can barely stand and walk never mind go to sea so we are having a year out of sailing to indulge them for their last few months.
 
Patch (Cocker spaniel) is actually very good on passages. He too has a life jacket with the 'suitcase' handle on the back and we have a special boat hook we could recover him with using his life jacket. He is very bouncy normally (he is only 2), but is very settled on passage and sleeps most of the time. Its when you come into port after a long passage he is a bit of a pain. He will cry constantly when Liz is mooring up and bark in excitement at finally getting to pee when you arrive. If (like Chatham Marina, or SYH) they are understanding of such things, this isn't a great problem and you will get sympathy from the locals, if, however, you are in a marina like Tollesbury (which we love, incidentally), where your dog is expected to be a mute, non mad hound (so not ours then), you may get locals with pitchforks turning up... He also struggles with separation anxiety, so leaving him on the boat to go for a bite to eat is a non starter (the howls can be heard for miles around :)).

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On our latest cruise this year... we left the hound behind. So much less stressful...!
 
Once, a long time ago, my wife and I were asked to sail a large old wooden ketch from Stornoway down to Ardfern. The deal was that we had to take the owner's dog as well. It was awful. This great hound, who didn't like being aboard, had to be taken ashore twice each day in the dinghy, whatever the weather, to be emptied. If you must have a dog on board a boat, first have it stuffed. :D
 
We may have been lucky but our two have taken to life at sea quite well, and are very enthusiastic about coming along with us. They are relatively large (a lurcher and a collie/retriever cross) and were aged 2 & 3 when we got the boat. It did make for a big of a squeeze on our Vega, on the current boat it's not so bad. A cockpit tent was really handy on the smaller boat especially if the dogs were wet and smelly.

We don't tend to marina-hop, but will generally go several days at anchor instead. This is more dog friendly because you can always find somewhere nice along the shore to walk them. Having them in a marina can be a bit antisocial.
I don't consider it a chore to take them ashore- you can end up finding some nice walks this way. I've developed a fairly efficient method of inflating and launching the dinghy using spinny halyard and an electric pump, and the dogs are agile enough to jump on deck with a wee bit of assistance at the back end.

We tried dog lifejackets but they didn't really seem very comfortable, and we fell out of the habit. Both dogs are quite good swimmers anyway. I suppose it a risk that we just accept.
 
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Poor Arthur hates sailing! He is a 4-year old Jack Russell cross. He was OK the first year we had him but this year he gets terribly anxious, cowers in the bottom of the cockpit and pants. I hate the thought that I might have to choose between the dog and sailing My circumstances are such that I can't easily leave him behind. I'll see if the vet can come up with something
 
Two experiences but both involved a wet and smelly dog. First was with out Springer who had been given to us after he failed at gundog trials. Trouble was, he had been used for wildfowling so in the dinghy if he saw a pick up buoy on a mooring , he would jump in and attempt to retrieve it. In fact if he saw water and got half a chance, in he would go no matter whether it was clean water or muddy.

Second occasion we were moored to a pontoon up the Truro river on a foul night of howling wind and biblical rain when another boat moored up. As soon as he was tied up, the skipper got out his dinghy and his dog and rowed both ashore for a dog pee. Dog must have been busting because he jumped over the side into the mud as soon as the dinghy got near. The boat was about 25ft so when both returned they faced having a soaking wet mud covered Lab in a 25ft boat for the night. Fun?

|I love dogs but wont have another until I give up sailing.
 
Worzel, our fab rescue lurcher sails with us.
A bit big for our 34 footer but he gets on fine with a bit of management.
We do make sure we can get ashore each day so the longest he has gone is around 12hours as he won't do the business on deck.

He came and spent two weeks with us on board last year in Holland although due to the stupid laws he had to come back via the Ferry from the Hoek to Harwich.
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His exploits have become a little famous now after SWMBO wrote a couple of books based on what to expect and the management of rescue dogs and obviously sailing is with dogs is covered.
He has a website at http://worzelwooface.com and his facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/WorzeltheLurcher/
 
My furry friend Winston comes with us, he is a 12 year old husky/lab/alsation mix-up rescue hound, we try and keep runs down to 4-5 hours max so he can keep his legs crossed, he doesn't like water so will never jump in and doesn't much like it when it's lumpy, we have an enclosed saloon so if it does get lively we can keep him in but he'd rather be outside on the rear deck.
 
thanks all, ill take the stinking little beast and see how he fairs, ill mostly be stopping in marinas over night (the showers / pubs / toilets / calm nights keep the crew happy) so toileting wont be a dinghy affair :)
 
Kenneth McGrew said:
thanks all, ill take the stinking little beast and see how he fairs, ill mostly be stopping in marinas over night (the showers / pubs / toilets / calm nights keep the crew happy) so toileting wont be a dinghy affair :)
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It'll be fine. Just make sure he's clipped on somehow and has enough water/shade, as it's super hot for wee doggies in exposed cockpits. I rig my sarong over the cockpit corner where Lulu sits (half husky, lots of fur): not very sailorish but colourful and the dog doesn't get heatstroke. Which is good. You may have a fancy bimini, which is even better. Oh, also dog paws aren't very grippy in boats and they can slide and slip a lot, which is unsettling for them and can be downright dangerous for everyone, so make sure doggo has something more grippy to sit on/curl up on.

Have fun!
 
Oh one more thing about sea sickness! Give it half a tab of Stugeron in a ball of cheese or something. That stuff works wonders for dogs too. They don't need to live with chundering all the time...
 
sniffyjenkins said:
Oh one more thing about sea sickness! Give it half a tab of Stugeron in a ball of cheese or something. That stuff works wonders for dogs too. They don't need to live with chundering all the time...
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I'd be VERY careful about that - dogs don't always react as expected to human medication, and dogs' weight also varies a LOT more than humans' does. What suits a labrador wouldn't suit my 5kg mixed breed! Worth bearing in mind that lots of things that humans can handle easily - chocolate, onions and grapes come to mind - are poison to dogs.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
I'd be VERY careful about that - dogs don't always react as expected to human medication, and dogs' weight also varies a LOT more than humans' does. What suits a labrador wouldn't suit my 5kg mixed breed! Worth bearing in mind that lots of things that humans can handle easily - chocolate, onions and grapes come to mind - are poison to dogs.
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Yes, I know about the human foods that are poisonous to dogs, such as chocolate. As for the sea sickness, I know one vet and lots of other people who use OTC human travel sickness meds for their dogs and use the child dose, or less. That's why I started using it. Alternatively, there are pet-specific OTC meds for travel sickness, though they are eye-wateringly expensive.
 
We've had all our dogs on board, the trick is to treat the first few outings like you would when you take children for the first time, let them find their sea legs and not equate it with fear. So no tipping the boat or big waves, and give them lots of attention. Pretty soon they'll love it, dogs are pack creatures and need to be in the centre of things, our two miniature Dachshunds leap in and out of the dayboat and spend 8 weeks each summer cruising Dorset but we were very careful the first few times sailing with each of them.
 
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